Today was another day with much to do, and little time to do it.

We had quite a few students disappointed today when the seeds had not already sprouted into full-grown plants.  We talked about how they will take a few days to germinate, and that we’ll be fortunate if we start seeing sprouts sometime next week!

In math we spent some time reviewing everything we have talked about up to this point.  We did a few interesting problems using our D.P.o.M.o.A. method, including this one:

10?  * 1? = 1122

The ‘?’ are missing digits.  Can you tell what the two missing digits should be?

We then took a quiz on the things we have been working on lately, mainly multi-digit multiplication.

The students found out that Friday is very often quiz day, as we review and then take little quizzes on all of the things we have been working on.

We reviewed character traits, and then took a quiz on that!

We reviewed plants, and then took a quiz on that!

We also started some writing, using this prompt:

” Just then, a giant sneaker came crashing through the roof of the classroom……”

The students had a really good time with this one, and came up with some very interesting and entertaining ideas.  I think we’ll grab hold of this and write some short stories.  We’ll keep working on these Monday.

I had a laundry list of other things I really wanted to get done, but after some spelling inventories, we were pretty much just left with enough time to go over the weekly point totals, and make our trip to the library.

There is no homework this weekend except for the students to read nightly and get the reading log signed.  There is a spot to sign for Friday, as well as the weekend, so please make sure that both get signed.

Have a good weekend!

-Mr. Potter

Vegetables!

well, in a few weeks hopefully.

So we started off our day going over last night’s homework.  It seems while we understand the concept, we were making quite a few careless mistakes and in many cases our work was so sloppy that it impacted our answers.  As such, students tonight have the EXACT SAME ten problems to do.  These will be turned in tomorrow for a QUIZ GRADE.  This should be a very very very easy 100% .  Students should focus on precision and order in their work.

25 x 62                                          145 x 14

312 x 19                                        228 x 22

481 x 34                                        362 x 44

438 x 50                                        300 x 57

888 x 42                                         213 x 124

We also cut out our newly laminated multiplication tables that we made yesterday, and those of us that need work still on our multiplication facts worked on multiplication flash cards.

We spent a large part of the afternoon talking about plants and their different parts.  We received our science journals, and took some notes there as well.

Finally we began our class garden by planting our seeds in some starter planters.  We might have been a *tad* too excited during this, but we finally got ourselves back under control.

Tomorrow we start to talk about how we’re going to care for our precious little seeds, and what we need to do to ensure they grow up big and strong!

Our homework tonight in language arts/science is page 146 in their motivation reading.  It is a short selection that has to do with (surprise!) plants!  There are four questions that go along with the selection.  As always students should write a sentence that explains their answer for each question.

so, tl;dr

same 10 problems from yesterday!

25 x 62                                          145 x 14

312 x 19                                        228 x 22

481 x 34                                        362 x 44

438 x 50                                        300 x 57

888 x 42                                         213 x 124

Page 146 in motivation reading.

Have a good one!

-Mr. Potter

There’s not enough time in the day!

So today we didn’t even GET to science, we were so wrapped up in other stuff.  We might start our day with science tomorrow to make sure we get to it.

In Math, we moved on to our next step: multiplying some two and three digit numbers.  We continued to use our visual aids and the D.P.o.M.o.A.  After doing this together a few times, it seems like the majority of the class is grasping these concepts quite well.

Tonight the students have 10 (TEN!) problems to do.  As always we have done one together, and the example is right here:

Aug6Example

The problems to be done are:

25 x 62                                          145 x 14

312 x 19                                        228 x 22

481 x 34                                        362 x 44

438 x 50                                        300 x 57

888 x 42                                         213 x 124

These should be answered in the same fashion as the example.

We also made multiplication charts together.  We have quite a few students who still need a good deal of work on math facts.  Because of this, many students will be focusing on those in math centers starting next week.

In language Arts, we spent a good amount of time going over our answers for our selection on the Arctic Tundra.  We spent most of that time focused on our reasoning for those answers.  Please note that whenever we have these kinds of assignments in Language Arts, every multiple choice answer must be accompanied by at minimum a one sentence explanation for their choice.  Some of us learned that “because that’s the answer” is not quite the level of reasoning that we are looking for……

Tonight, the students should do pages 143 and 144 in their motivation reading book.  These are some short response questions to the Arctic Tundra selection.

We finished up our day with some DEAR time, as we had skipped that the last two days.

There really needs to be a few more hours in the day.  Or at least at school.  Make sure you send your congressman/woman a letter about that one please.

so, tl;dr

10 math problems

25 x 62                                          145 x 14

312 x 19                                        228 x 22

481 x 34                                        362 x 44

438 x 50                                        300 x 57

888 x 42                                         213 x 124

example:

Pages 143-144 in the motivation reading book

As always, 35 minutes of reading.  Please sign the reading log, and not the agenda.

Have a good one!

-Mr. Potter

And the honeymoon is over!

Today we had a very full day.  We also had to go back and revisit some expectations, especially in regards to talking out and following directions.

In the morning, we did a TON of practicing multiplying using the distributive property of multiplication over addition.  We eventually moved on to using this to multiply numbers with three digits.  The students have five problems to do tonight using this method.  We did one of the problems in class:

145 x 6

273 x 2

263 x 4

1142 x 5

324 x 4

example:

Aug5Example

We then did a lot of work in the computer lab with science, talking about what we will need to start our class garden.  We did some research on what plants need to grow, and talked about what we will need to start our garden.

The students watched this quick video, which has a fabulous scene involving cows, which they loved….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwwlm3CrRjY

We then finished up our day with a quick revisit of our reading selection on the arctic tundra.  Students worked for a bit in groups trying to answer the last five comprehension questions, and their homework tonight is to finish these questions.  They must not only give a letter answer, but must write a sentence explaining/proving their answer using evidence from the text.

so, tl;dr

5 math problems, done using the distributive property of multiplication over addition:

145 x 6

273 x 2

263 x 4

1142 x 5

324 x 4

Example question 324 x 4: Aug5Example

Five questions on page 142 of their motivation reading, having to do with the arctic tundra.

Have a good one!

-Mr. Potter

Today students have a good bit of work to do at home…

IF they didn’t take advantage of their time wisely on Friday and today.

First, we talked at great length today about the Distributive Property of Multiplication over Addition.  Understanding this property is so unbelievably important to understanding how the multiplication algorithm works, and eventually to understanding things in algebra.  For these reasons, we will be harping on this for a while yet.  If you’ve forgotten, it’s the property that states:

7 x (4 + 4) = (7 x 4) + (7 x 4)

So we did quite a few examples using this, and talking about how it will make multiplication of larger numbers much easier/understandable for us.

The students have a page of these problems to do.  We did many examples in class today that they should have also brought home that should make their homework a snap.

DPoMoA_Worksheet

In Language Arts, we read a short story about the Arctic Tundra, and also talked some about how our Science Unit this quarter will be on Animals and Ecosystems.  Students answered some difficult comprehension questions in their groups, and practiced using evidence from the text to support their answers.  I was very impressed with how well they worked together, going so far as to take turns presenting evidence and opinions in some groups.

In Language Arts, students have their short story summary that they started last Friday, as well as their Antonym Story to finish.  They were given a good amount of time Friday to work on these, so I don’t expect it to be too big of an issue.

Fix_the_Story_with_Antonyms

In science, students have a short passage about fungi to read and answer some questions.

Gr5_Wk15_Fungi_are_Alive

We then went into the computer lab, and spent some time logged into the website, learning about the posting system and messageboard.  We unfortunately did not have time to go over everything we needed to before we had to leave for specials, so we will be going again tomorrow if we can squeeze in the time, and I will be sending home more information tomorrow.

so, tl;dr

one math worksheet using the distributive property of multiplication over addition

DPoMoA_Worksheet

one summary of a short book they picked out

antonym story sheet finished

Fix_the_Story_with_Antonyms

fungi reading done, and questions answered

Gr5_Wk15_Fungi_are_Alive

If they used their time wisely Friday and today, it shouldn’t take more than 20-30 minutes.

And as always, students should read and get a signature!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

There is no homework!

Well, except to read for 35 minutes each night (Fri,Sat,Sun) and get a signature for that.

This morning we took our STAR test, which gives me an idea of the lexile level of the students.

We then learned a bit about the computer, some windows shortcuts, and about using tabs and such in google chrome.  On Monday we will spend some more time in the computer lab learning about this website and other essential things.

We had some early D.E.A.R. time, and read a bit more of the Mysterious Benedict Society.

We then took some short books, and practiced writing summaries for them, to help us when we are taking AR tests.

We also worked on some reading comprehension passages, and started re-writing a backwards story full of antonyms.

In math we took another assessment, this time focusing on fractions.  I also started administering the Number Knowledge Test to a few students.  These assessments will give me a very solid idea of where students are, and where they need to go to progress in their understanding of numbers, operations, and fractions.

We wrapped up our day with a quick check out at the library, so students should definitely have books to read this weekend!

so, tldr;

read for 35 minutes a night, and get a signature for that.

Enjoy your weekend!

-Mr. Potter

Another day, another 6 paws.

Our students are really knocking it out of the park this first week.  We have done so well with our lines and our hallway behavior that we have gotten five extra minutes of recess each day so far this week, and are already up to 20 paws on our lion.  It’s unreal.

We spent our morning again reviewing how our classroom should look and act, and then talked a great deal about character traits.  We split our character traits up into categories (negative, positive, and neutral) and had some really great discussions about how we might view some traits as good in some situations and bad in others.  The students really got into debating this among themselves and with me.

Next we took some time to write a short story about an event in our life that we thought was very special, or interesting.  We then talked about how we can expand on this story to add details, and answer questions that our readers might have.  We split into pairs, and did TAG:

Tell something you liked

Ask a question

Give a suggestion

Students wrote down what their TAG partner said, and their homework tonight is to re-write their story using the suggestions and questions from their partner.

In math, we talked again about base 10, and did a lot of work describing numbers in many different ways.  We took a good amount of notes on this, which can be found here:

BaseTenPDF

Students also have a worksheet on this to complete tonight:

Base10Sheet1

Finally while I did some last MClass and other assessments, the students had what I like to call D.E.A.R. time:  Drop Everything and Read time.

So tldr;

Re-write short story from writing today using the suggestions and questions their partner gave them (TAG)

Base 10 worksheet

Base10Sheet1

As always, read for 35 minutes and get a signature

Have a good one!

-Mr. Potter

We have quite the actors in our class!

This morning we reviewed how groups should act.  The students came up with these basic rules for groups:

We are kind to our groupmates
We are humble, we listen and respect other people’s opinions
We act as a group – we are not a dictatorship
We come to decisions TOGETHER
We should be discussing, not arguing
We ask for help, and we help others

Then each group put on a skit for each rule, with a correct and incorrect way to act.

They….were…..hilarious.  Ask your student about his/her group’s skit.  It was great.

Next, we talked again about character traits, and how we can discover things about characters by how they act, what they say, and how they feel.  Authors don’t often just tell us straight out about a character, but they develop their characters through the interactions in their stories.  We then did some reading, and identified character traits with actions as evidence.

In language arts students have to write a letter to me telling me about themselves, and ask me any questions they might have.

They also have a small newspaper-like hand out, where they are going to share all about themselves with the class.  This is also due tomorrow.

In math, we talked some more about base 10, and exponential notation, and writing numbers in different ways.  We didn’t quite get as far as I would have liked in this, so there is no homework in this tonight.

We then did a very fun activity called the toothpaste challenge.  We used this to talk about how we should be careful with our words.  Be sure you ask your student about this, and maybe even do it with them tonight.

so, tldr;

Read for 35 minutes, and get your agenda signed stating you did so

Letter to Mr. Potter

All About Me Newspaper

Have a good one!

-Mr. Potter

Today was a very smooth second day of school.

Everyone remembered to bring in their sneakers for P.E., which was great.  Tomorrow we have DIscovery Ed, so please remember to bring a composition book to use in Mrs. Long’s class if you have not already brought one in.

We spent our morning reviewing expectations and procedures, and then we started reading “The Mysterious Benedict Society” together, and talking about character traits.  We also discussed how we can write simple sentence long summaries of what we read that include who, what, when, where, and why.  Students will need to write these summaries about the books they read in order to assist them with taking AR tests later.

Next we started a fun word ladder, and that will be the students’ homework for tonight.

In math, we took an assessment test that will give me a much better idea of where the students are on quite a few concepts,

Finally, I wrote a letter to the students and had them read it, telling them a little bit about myself.  They have homework that is due Thursday that is to write a letter back to me about themselves, and ask me any questions that they might have.  I will read these over the weekend and have a response for them on Monday.

So tldr;

Things are progressing smoothly!

word ladder due tomorrow

Letter to Mr. Potter due Thursday!

Have a good one,

-Mr. Potter

Ah, the first day of fifth grade!

We began our school year talking about expectations and how we can be the perfect classroom.  Our students came up with some very good lists of what the perfect class looks like in the classroom, in the hallways, at specials, and at lunch.  They  know what is expected of them in these places, and they did a wonderful job meeting those expectations today.

We then spent some time organizing our desks, our supplies, and our binders.  Students have a homework binder that they are expected to bring home each night, which will contain their agenda, and their homework.  For tonight, they have a mountain of paperwork to bug you to sign and to bring back tomorrow.

I know that the pile of paperwork can be a hassle, but it would greatly help me out if you can get that finished and turned in.

They also have their nightly reading to do.  Students picked out books from our classroom library, and they should spend a minimum of 30 minutes tonight reading (Normally it should be 35 minutes, but they each got to do 5 minutes of it in class).  Please sign your students agenda or book log verifying that they did read for their 30 minutes.

In math we did some quick review of the base 10 system, and what base 10 actually means.  We will be taking some more notes on this tomorrow, and much of our math work this week will be focused on ensuring we have a solid grasp of the foundations of our number system.

We then did some activities where we got to know each other, and a group activity called Save Fred.  Be sure you ask your student if they indeed had a chance to save Fred, or if their team didn’t quite get there.  It looked like the majority of our class had a good time, and I’m sure they would like to share their experience with you.

So, tldr;

Read for 30 minutes and get book log or agenda signed verifying this fact

Paperwork mountain  (If you had already filled out a form last Thursday, don’t worry about filling it out again.  However there are some new forms to fill out)

Looking forward to tomorrow!

-Mr. Potter